Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1887-06-16
rHn EooomorIYE sxPIosrox.


The Boiler made of Faulty Hron-
The Victims n yvElmhnaaonian.
The Chester Times In an article npon
the B. d o. locomotive explosion at Obes-
ter station Tuesday week says: "The loco
motive with the big cash In its side md
the tubes projecting out like quills on q
huge porcupine was prshed ON siding
above Walnut street, and hundreds of
people went up 10 look at II. The boiler
plate was bent over as though made Of
nothing but paper and the joints were
torn and ragged. While the crowd were
looking the vVretohed machinery over,
David Lewis, foreman of Roaoh's boiler
shops, came up. He was accompanied
by Robert 8. Taylor and Joseph Oasho.
They clambered over the engine and
made minute inspection of every part of
the boiler.
what do you think of that boiler,
Mr.. Lewis was asked by a Times re-
porter.
THE iron is very faulty and II is not
made any too well, but that would not
matter In this case II the boiler plate was
perfect. By examining it you can see
that the iron was not properly welded in
the rolling, SO that IL was liable TO break
at any time
"'was there enough water in the
boilerP'
"sPlenty The explosion shows that there
was all the water in the boiler Thar tliasft
should have been The engineer and fire-
men are not TO blame for this accident.
The man that made that boiler should
have seen that better iron was putinto it, ;"
Engineer Nixon was standing by an in-
terested listener to this Dialogue and as he
heard Mr.. Lewis verdict he drew deep
sigh of relief, which was accompanied by
smile when told the position held by the
person giving the opinion.
"'I know there WAS plenty of water in
the boiler he said to Times man, but
people never believe that explosion can
happen through any other cause than
carelessness. did not have the slightest
idea that the boiler was not reliable, or
never would have taken her out. / would
not have risked my life in such way.
She was acting perfectly moment before
the explosion took place."'
At the coroner's investigation A. j.
Cromwell, superintendent of motive
power of the railroad company, testified
that the engine was built in 1862, but
had had its boiler renewed in 1879. II
had been tested on May 9th, 1887, at $50
pounds pressure.
W. o. Sayille, United States inspector,
testified to the good quality of the iron,
but believed there was a rupture near q
seam of rivets, but it could not be seen.
In his 21 years. experience he had never
seen case like 1t.
II was then stated by members of the
Jury that an old crack or flaw seven inches
long had been discovered under one of
the boiler sheets where II Tapped the one
ahead. The crack was on the under side
of the sheet on top of the boiler, and
could not have possibly been detected.
The flaw ran almost in a line with the
rivets. 1t is also stated that the railroad
authorities admit the presence of the
crack and say 1t may have caused the
accident. 1t is the opinion of many that
the boiler first gave way at the place
where the crack was found.
Joseph Gain, the young bridge builder
who was killed by the explosion was O
resident of this city. The remains were
shipped to the residence of his step
mother, Margaret Mccain, No. 426 West
Front street. His body is terribly mutilated
and disfguied. 1t is burned and Hcalded
and the right arm broken. He was stand
ing close by the locomotive when the ex-
plosion took place and was apparently
stunned by being struck with pieces of
the flying debris, and afterward soalded
to death by the escaping steam.
All the debris has been removed,
painters, carpenters, roofers and brick-
layers are at work and by the end Of the
week IL will be hard to recognize the evil
dence Of such scene as that presented
on Tuesday. The row of houses facing
the station on the south side of Twelfth
| street, which were somewhat damaged
and disfgured, are being repaired. The
houses are being repainted and the be-
spattered bricks cleaned ana when the
repairs are completed they will look
better than before. The expense of these
repairs will be born by the railroad COM
pany. The wrecked engine was taken TO
Baltimore and things are beginning to re-
sumo the even tenor of their way In the
neighborhood of the pretty little station.
THE coRoNER's JURY DOES NOT BLAME THE
RAILROAD COMPANY.
Coroner Fairlamb at Chester yesterday
afternoon resumed the inquest on the death
of Joseph W. Mccain, killed by the ex-
plosion OF the Baltimore d Ohio locomotive
1 on Tuesday week.
/ The expert testimony having been elected
before, the witnes es Friday were people
who saw the explosion. The jury agreed to
the following verdict: "That It appears
| from the evidence that death was caused
| by the explosion on Tuesday, June 7th, of
the boiler of engine No. 2SS OF the Balti-
more q Ohio Railroad Company, arising
from faults In the manufacture of the boiler
| plates"
Some of the jurors in speaking OF the
| verdict later said that they oonld not GEN.
sure the railroad company, as there was
nothing to show negligence on their part
Some OF the injured have already put their
cases In the hands of attorneys.